Details: Here's another great model from our friends at Building Asia Brick By Brick (which I have bloggedabout previously, please see those posts for more info on this series of presentations). This one makes good use of some impressionistic techniques and features some clever uses of bricks that are angled and sideways. You can click on the photos on their site to see larger shots where these things are a little more clear. There's also some clever stuff here with round sculpted parts and some sections that are built upside-down but aren't attached with normals studs-not-on-top methods. Oh, and these are some pretty clever original building designs too - they'd certainly stand out in Shanghai or any other city.

The exhibit will be on display in Beijing through September 1st (which I think is today in that time zone), Shanghai from September 6th to the 9th, and Chengdu from the 13th to the 25th.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Details: Now this is a great project that you can probably try at home - it's a beautiful modular house (similar to the Cafe Corner set) that was made as an original alternate model for the 4954 "Model Town House" kit (which, by the way, you can get free shipping on if you order through Amazon). The nice thing about little projects like this one is that you can easily determine if you have the parts or not - in fact, when I was little, the LEGO® club magazine (I think it was called Mania Magazine at the time) used to feature instructions for models that could be easily built from just one widely-available kit. Enough of the "marketing" type stuff though, truth be told this is also a very well-designed original house too. I love the architecture here, that upper balcony, the awnings for the door and windows (the ones on the top look like the part that goes over the car wheels in the main model!). There's even a flower bed and outdoor lighting here (creative ways of doing both of those, too). The bench in the back is a great use of studs-not-on-top parts in this scale, and there's even a proper staircase featured. I would have preferred some furniture (wasn't the original point of modular building to make it possible to show off furnishings?), but oh well. It's difficult enough to get things like that textured studs-not-on-top front to work well.

Details: Now this is an unusual vehicle (but a great use of chain-style treads if you have a few but not enough to build something big). There's lots of great studs-not-on-top things here too, and I love the use of the minifig skis here (it may have been done before, but it's a great effect). The smoothness of the cockpit details at the studs-not-on-top seems is amazing. I can't help but wonder, though - how is this thing supposed to turn?

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Details: I'm cheating again today - this isn't a model, but rather a gallery of LEGO® models at the Weymouth Sea Life Centre in the UK. They're great models, though, and I doubt that we're going to find out any more information about them - so better to post them sooner than later, right?

Details: Here's a highlight from July's NXTLOG quadruped challenge - a robot with 4 legs on one side, like the "Thing" character on the TV show, "The Addams Family". I'm not really sure how well this thing turns (the video only shows forward motion) but it's definitely a unique twist on the quadruped format. The way the the legs (fingers) are rigged to move is great too (although I'm guessing that most of my robotics-oriented readers are better at making that sort of thing than I am)

Details: This is a detailed and complete reproduction of Mos Eisley from Star Wars. I'm not a huge Star Wars buff, but according to the website above, this location is used in two of the episodes ("A New Hope" and "Return of the Jedi"). The first thing you notice is just the sheer size of this thing. It is enourmous. The next thing that sticks out is the way all the curves are done - the LEGO® technique here is amazing. There must be thousands of tan bricks in here - and those still aren't too easy to come by. It really looks like every spaceship and building has been represented (any Star Wars fans care to comment on the completeness of this one?) - there are even minifigs and space monsters (probably to make it look like a particular scene from one of the movies). Make sure to have a look at all of the pictures - there's something to see in all of them.

As an added bonus, some unrelated Star Wars sculptures are also included in the Flickr gallery above.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Details: Here's a spiffy model of the Thalys train - made using half-stud offsets to get extra details in the front. Other cool features include the color scheme, the custom couplers, and the spot-on custom stickers (technically cheating, but perfectly done here). There's some extensive information about this one at the link above, and even building instructions - you might even be able to attempt your own version of it from that.

Details: Here's the latest record-breaking tower in the news - a 29.03 metre tower in Toronto. For some reason, this one hasn't gotten as much media attention as the last tower we featured. Because of this, I don't have a great picture gallery to show - I just have the two photos in these two articles. Feel free to send in any articles/photos you have of this one - I'd love to hear more about it.

Details:Here's an interesting spaceship - it's a brilliant design using quite a few newer slope/curve type elements (I'm sure they have a proper name, but I don't know it) and a pair of cockpits used to make a larger cockpit. This model first went on to the 'net last May, and it has become an inspiration for other LEGO® fans online in the time since. Those of you up for more than one model for today might want to take a look at this Brothers Brick post that discusses some solid spin-offs of this model.

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Details: Here's one for the don't-try-this-at-home department - a 12 foot Eiffel Tower made entirely out of blue bricks with no glue or supports. Although, this one does cheat and include a small support in the middle - but it doesn't go the whoie way up, so does it really count? I think it's safe to assume that the lattice-work offers more support on the higher levels than the builder's description admits. It's great, though, how the scale works so that the lattice-work can be all normal bricks - no plates or special parts needed. Let's be serious here, though - the scale is what makes this project so ambitious. This won't fit in a normal house and can't be made with any "normal" LEGO® collection. There are probably more blue 1x2 bricks used in this one then there are visitors to the real thing in the course of aw week. I'd hate to have to move a model this size without any glue in it. Don't worry, though - this one was dismantled and recycled into more practical models a while back.

Details: This is a stunner that you have to see to believe - a complete pinball machine, in full size. There are a ton of great photos here too. You can see the underside, where dozens (hundreds?) of beams form a sturdy base for the model. There's also a clever mutiple RCX holster to allow the intelligent bricks to communicate with each other. Some slight cheating was involved for the number displays, which are made with paper glued to miswritten CD-Rs, but otherwise this is done entirely with LEGO® parts - lights, motors, sensors, and all. Of course, even beyond the awesome scope of this project and the robotics-related challenges, this has some great detail work. The lettering, the rows of windows, and the obstacles all look amazing too.

Details: Those of you who are in the know are probably aware of the fact that the LEGO® company celebrated its 75th anniversary a few days back. Well, naturally, they threw themselves quite a LEGO-themed party to celebrate. This Brickshelf gallery includes a ton of photos of the event - and there's a ton of great stuff to see! Most of these would have qualified to be models of the day on their own, actually, but it doesn't make much sense to keep that much of a backlog here. Keep an eye out for a Chinese Dragon-styled train, a sandcastle, woodenpuzzles, a Star Trek ship, cool cars, some familiar amazing buildings, a cathedral, and dozens of LEGOLAND Park attractions. That's just a few highlights - the whole gallery is a treat.

Details: I don't know if it's just me or not, but the text on this page is showing up as gibberish instead of Japanese text (is there more than one Japanese character set?)

Anyway - this is another spectacular castle. The sculpted outside and towering walls are the most eye-catching, but there's some great detail here with minifigs posed as both guards and prisoners. The mix of trees is great too, although I can't help but feel jealous when I see those older trees that you can't buy anymore used in a great model. Closer inspection reveals careful use of mottled textures within the sculpted section to show undergrowth - and then there's the little "windows" near the top which are actually backwards studs-not-on-top 1x1 bricks. Then there's the chain-attached drawbridge, which opens directly to a prison gate. There's tons of great stuff inside, too - carefully placed ghosts and skeletons, full furnishings, detailed jail cells - and of course, plenty of hinges to allow for easy viewing of the inside. As if all of that wasn't enough, the model even features a punchline - the final photo is a pair of Wolfpack Renegades (for those of you who weren't LEGO Castle fans in the early 90s, they are villains that live in the wilderness but aren't Forestmen) - tools in hand - plotting a break-in to free some of their cohorts.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Details: For the March 7th, 2006 issue of PC Magazine, the computer magazine hired professional LEGO® artist/sculptor Nathan Sawaya to build a computer sculpture. They wanted to play up the whimsy element of a normal object made out of LEGO® bricks, so bright colors were chosen as the color palette. The final result is, as you can see, quite brilliant. I don't know why green was picked for that keyboard, though. Some plates and special parts were used to make the shapes and ports look fairly realistic. The pixelated effect on the screen is a nice touch - but is that there to show that it's a digital item, or to show that it's made out of LEGO® bricks?

By the way - the site above mentions something about a time lapse video of the building of the CPU part of this sculpture. I wasn't able to find the graphic to link it, but if somebody spots it, let me know.

Details: This is a delightful new twist on the Rush Hour Game concept - it's a Space-themed version of the game made with as an avant-garde LEGO® model. Of course, the game itself is hours of fun (seriously - Buy it if you don't have it yet - you won't regret it.) - but this LEGO® rendition uses a number of clever building techniques as well. The "cars" are detailed microscale creations that are designed with parts that reach down to hold the cars in place (there are, of course, skid plates underneath as well). The "tracks" that the cars go back-and-forth on (for those unfamiliar with the game, you cannot turn a car in it) are made with an array of various tiled-plates. The outside of the game has been decorated with a number of curvy and slopey pieces. OK, so this doesn't come with cards or a storage tray, but otherwise, this is one awesome model. You could probably whip up your own version for under $50 too (watch those proportions, though - there's some less-than-a-full-brick-across trickery going on in those grooves...).

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Details: Here's a great new twist on building castles - building the walls sideways. I suppose this trick would work well in a town building too, but it works particularly well to get some of the smaller spots needed in realistic castles. If you're familiar with LEGO® geometry, you're probably used to the idea that the height of three plates is equal to the height of one brick. If you're really into LEGO® geometry, you should know that LEGO® bricks are 6/5 as high as they are wide. If you're truly into LEGO® geometry, you probably also know some tricks even cooler than this one. For now, though, the point is that the sideways wall allows for some smaller details and increased resolution (much like it does in LEGO® mosaics). The sideways effect was used here to allow for bow-and-arrow-sized slit windows on the lower level and a very clever cross-shaped window on the top floor.

There's one other cool trick here - look closely at the top walls that the minifigs are standing behind, and you'll notice that those bricks and arches are upside-down! I'm not entirely sure how they're held in place, but they look great.

Today's pick from this exhibit is this sculpture of a cylinderical city. I love the way that this one uses the geometry of the LEGO® bricks to angle parts and create the rounded effect. The use of empty space to emulate windows and doors inside the city is great too.

There are two reasons for this. First, I've always wanted to make a site about LEGO®. A good ten years back, when I first heard about the internet, it immediately hit me that this would be a great medium for sharing LEGO® creations with other fans. I quickly found hundreds of other LEGO® fans who were already interested in using the web as a valuable resource – and a tightly-knit AFOL community was just out there for anyone to find. Secondly, I believe that this is one of the better hobbies for me to spend time on online. I have many ideas on websites I should start sooner or later, but this one won't be as labor intensive as some of my other "projects", and I'm sure I'll be able to make some ad revenue here (which is always good to have...)

Are there other sites like this?

Yes and no. There is an active LEGO® community online, but the sites in that community are not designed to be kid-friendly or accessible to the general public. There are many sites with interesting models online, but you may have to dig a bit to find models that are truly impressive. You'll probably see most of those sites linked to from here sooner or later, as I hope to be able to shine the spotlight on many impressive models with this blog.

Several years ago, there was a website called "Cool Lego Site of the Week", which did similar work, but ultimately ran out of websites. If I recall correctly, the creator of that site also ran out of time to maintain it. There were also some stellar links pages assembled in the earlier days of the online Lego community, but many of those pages are gone - and much worse, many of the "cool sites" linked to by these resources have since been taken off of the internet.

AFOLs, or Adult Fans of Lego, have done many great things working together at sites like Lugnet.com. Sadly, with their insistence on excluding LEGO®'s youngest and most active fans, their insistence on posters using their full names, and their insistence on using specific lingo, they are a rather exclusive community. Part of my goal with this site is to offer a less formal way of exploring fun LEGO® models online. I'll keep the terminology simple, or explain it when I use it, and I'll gladly showcase worthy models made by those under the age of 18 (even if they don't want everybody to know their full name). I hope that by working outside of the AFOL community, I'll be able to interest people who normally wouldn't pursue this hobby online.

Do you collect any personal data?

We use third-party online advertising through companies such as Google and Amazon. These companies use cookies (small text files that save data on your computer so that a website may "remember" you) as part of their services. These are not intrusive and pose no threat to you, your computer, or your privacy. Cookies are widely used for this purpose all across the internet. Additionally, if you comment on an entry on this site, that comment and related data (such as a screenname or e-mail address) will be kept with that comment. By posting a comment on an entry, you grant LMOTD and Google's Blogger service the rights to publish this data on the post's page (this is standard practice for blogs and shouldn't surprise anyone, but we thought we'd be clear about it).

Is this site kid-safe?

Although I cannot be held personally responsible for the sites that I link to (they can change their content without my knowledge at any time), I do make an effort to not post links to sites that have questionable or objectionable content on them. I also moderate all comments. These procedural precautions were decided upon with children and families in mind. If you have any suggestions on how we can be more kid-friendly, please e-mail us at legomodeloftheday@gmail.com

How are models chosen?

Some models are chosen out of my own personal archives (I maintain a library of LEGO® instruction manuals, books, etc), other models are chosen because they have received some buzz on the ‘web and seem like they should be mentioned. Other models are nominated from user submissions. You may read about how you can nominate a model at this link. I will also be looking for new models that may be of interest myself, and occasionally posting about models that are already famous that you might not know about.

Models are not being disqualified along traditional lines - professional Lego designers will be competing with children who bought their first LEGO® set last week for the award of site of the day. Any model is eligible, regardless of the age, nationality, profession, etc, of the person who made it. Heck, I'll even take models not made by people - this is 2008, and we do have LEGO® robots that can build other LEGO® models now. I do require, however, that there is a website I can link to that has fairly reliable image hosting and that the creator of the model has a link I can feature. I WILL NOT link to webpages that do not credit a model’s builder in any way (with the sole exception of models that were commissioned for a company).

I plan on using the following criteria to determine which models deserve to be spotlighted:

Detail - Are small parts used to give proper detail to a model? Does a model contain researched elements? Is an unusual color scheme used? Are elements of whimsy or irony included?

Ambition - How long did the model take to make? What kind of financial resources would be required to buy the parts for the model? Were specific programming or CAD techniques needed to build this model? Is it really big?

Technique - Are parts used in unusual or unexpected ways?

The following criteria will determine when a model is featured:

Documentation - Is there a website discussing the creation of the model? Are there plenty of pictures available so that we can see everything? Are building instructions provided?

Theme - Is this from an unusual theme? Is this something that has not been attempted before? How many models in the same "category" have we seen lately (I'm hoping to showcase a variety of models on the main page at any given time).

Will I be informed if my model is chosen?

I do not have the time to track down the creator of every model featured. I recommend subscribing to our RSS feed to keep track of whether or not a model has been mentioned. Additionally, we may cause a short surge in traffic to your website or Brickshelf page on the day your model is featured. It is not a problem, however, for me to reply to an e-mail in which a model was nominated. If you nominate one of your own models, I'll have your e-mail address handy to let you know that you have been featured.

If you would like to send in your model, your kid's model, or a model you saw elsewhere and thought my readers would like to see, you can! Here is how you can nominate a model to be my unofficial LEGO® model of the day:

Make sure that the model has a webpage. This can be a page on a popular image-hosting website or a dedicated webpage with a write-up and pictures. The more info is available about a model, the better, but please don't send in anything that doesn't have a webpage we can link to and a picture that we can show.

Make sure that it is clear who the model was made by. We will not link to sites that do not credit a model's builder. Screen names are just as good as full names as far as we're concerned. We just want to make sure the builder gets proper credit for what they do. We will make exceptions in rare cases when it looks like a model may have been done for a company (The LEGOLAND Parks, for example, rarely credit individual employees for models on their premises). If you are sending in a child's model, you may also send in the age of the builder - we'd like to show the world examples of ordinary kids building extraordinary models.

Make sure that the model was actually made out of LEGO® elements. Off-brand products do not work with the same color schemes, geometries, and specialized components, and as such, are entirely different building systems that are of no relevance to this blog. We will allow for some mild cheating (say, a sticker added to a model to provide more detail, or maybe an unofficial piece of string in a situation where the official LEGO® string doesn't work so well), but we must insist that there be no off-brand products used.

Details:This brilliant minifig-scale reproduction of the Pewabic Pottery building features great details both inside and out. One section has an exposed top floor so that you can see minifig crafters at work. The mottled roof looks great - I think it's using traditional red LEGO® slopes with some newer and darker shades of red mixed in. You can also see some studs-not-on-top effects used to place smooth-topped plates on the outside of the building to replicate the feel of the old beams on the original building. Part of why this building looks so great is because the builder was able to get the support of the pottery shop while he was building it - blueprints of the original building were exchanged for the promise of allowing the LEGO® replica to be shown at Pewabic Pottery after the train show it was built for was over.

This model is currently on display for public viewing at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, MI. From what I can tell, it will be on display there for the foreseeable future (you might want to verify elsewhere how to get to this one before planning a trip).

Details: This morning (while I was in bed feeling rather sick - sorry for the delay) Rod Gillies posted this Doctor Who-themed robot on his blog. This is a Dalek, which is one of the Doctor's enemies on the series. It looks like no effort was made to make it say "exterminate!", but it can properly rotate its head and move around. I'd love a good look at this one's LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT based internals, but I think that the collection of angled plates that makes this thing look a bit more like the ones on TV are great too. I don't think I actually have that many wing elements in my LEGO® collection...

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Details: Here's a great town/trains layout assembled by ItLug . The picture I chose to feature from this set shows a pre-Cafe Corner corner house with some great details - keep an eye out for the detailed window decorations and the use of spaceship wings in the roofing. There's also a solid-looking car-carrying train and a fancy park and entryway. A variety of train cars adds some great character here - I love the way that some of these are styled to match officially-released LEGO® Train sets.

Details: This gorgeous microscale spaceship shows part of why microscale building is so appealing - get a load of the bizarre uses for common parts in here! I see a wrench being used as a weapon, two rows of minifig chairs making the outer hull of the craft, hinge parts used as decoration parts on the outside, TECHNIC parts used as weaponry, a few 2x2 turntable bottoms and tons of the newer small slopes. I'm pretty sure that the side craft is using a few obnoxious LEGO® RACERS parts to great effect, and that's before we get into both the side craft and the main cruiser using various wheels and gears as jet engines. I might be seeing a sticker or two here, but that's barely noteworthy next to all the other cool tricks here. In this shot you can even see a Wild West set's log-brick and even a few skid plates used as siding!

Details:Here's a beautiful red car - and it's another one of those models that's done in just the right way to keep any studs from showing. There's some slight cheating in the form of stickers, but there's enough excellent real LEGO® detailing on here to make that excusable. I think the best detail here, though, might not be anything on the exterior, but rather, the (apparently) working pneumatic suspension.

Details: This dog is a hoot - he looks amazing. The best trick here is the way the eyes are made - those are inverted LEGOLAND Town levers stuck in side of a pair of studs-not-on-top plates with grooved tops. Now there is an idea only Moko could come up with.

Details: UPDATE: Thanks to Dunechaser from The Brothers Brick for clearing up the origins of this model. Every once in a while, I drag my feet about posting a model because it doesn't quite meet my (as of yet unposted) rules for inclusion. I always make an effort to credit a model's builder here, and I try to find photos that have web hosting for the foreseeable future. Today, though, I find myself being forced to link to a less reputable blog that didn't credit a builder - and because they never credited the builder or said where they stole the photos from, I don't know who built this or where there photos are. The model's worth sharing though, and since this has big on the blogs during the past few days, you'll probably want to know about it anyway. If you know anything about where I can find more information about this model or its builder, please let me know.

As I'm sure you can tell, this is a great likeness of Mario from the Super Mario Brothers video games in sculpture form. It features some great curves, with plates and all. It looks to me like it might be a professional job, actually. Part of the reason that this model looks so great and professional is that it was built by a former LEGOLAND Parks Master Builder.

Details: This model uses the very difficult approach of covering every single LEGO® stud. Slopes, curves, tiled plates, specialized parts and the sides of bricks make up every visible surface of the model. Some studs-not-on-top effects were used to make this work smoothly all the way around as well. I'd love to see how this looks under the hood!

Details: Here's a nifty LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT-based robotic arm. It uses a slider mechanism to keep its hand at the same angle at all times (which makes it easier programming-wise to determine the hand's locations). I'm surprised by the way that the center-of-gravity is kept in place by a wheel-based counterweight instead of with an actual LEGO® counterweight brick.

Details:Here's an interesting study in ways to use sloped bricks for architectural details. This castle also features a clever way of creating jail bars - by using sideways ladder elements and some studs-not-on-top trickery to attach them to the walls of the building. The animations done for this one are a hoot too, but make sure to take a good look at the real photos first.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Details: Here's a microscale train modeled after the official LEGO set of the Santa Fe Super Chief. There's only one picture of this one, but I don't think you need any others either. The doors - which are made with little hook plates (or whatever they're called - they can hold minifig tools) are a great touch.

Details: Here's a nifty little sub and base for the AQUAZONE theme. It's done with some slight modifications to the Aquanauts/2007 Aquaraiders color scheme, but that makes the large cockpit of the sub possible. Much like some of the official sets in this theme, the station has a dock for the sub. My favorite part of this one is the bizarre angling they used to accent the cockpit of the sub.

Details: Apologies for these posts going up so late in the day lately. To make things worse, I'm not even going to comment much on today's model. Why? Because the description at the site above is so amazing that I couldn't possibly top it. This model is really something else, and this other blogger did a great job of capturing all of the clever parts uses in it. I suppose that all of those "you're not going to believe this" pictures probably would have made this a better fit for the Sunday edition, but this way there's at least something new up during the day today.

Details: This gorgeous house is one of many that has popped up recently in the online LEGO fan community. The idea is that it looks like it would fit into a city block with the Cafe Corner Cafe Corner set. This one features some nice details - most noticeably a clever use for Castle-themed parts in a LEGO town. I love the way that studs-not-on-top parts and rounded front parts are used here as well.

LinkShare

LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site. The official website of the LEGO Group can be found at LEGO.com. LEGO®, along with most part names and product line names, is a registered trademark of the The LEGO Group.

The copyrights on all models, designs, and photos shown belong to the individuals or groups that created them. This blog's use of existing LEGO®-related content falls under the legal concept of fair use.